The Soldier & His Brother
by Dr MilkyWay
Summary: Before he was a leader, he was a soldier. Before he was the hero of the team we know today, he was a member of his first team. Before he massacred huggables, he had to stop monsters on his home planet. Before he partnered with Oliver in battle, he had to raise him. This is the story of young Riggs, his baby brother Oliver, and his first team in the early life of the Battle Bears.
1. The World of Young Riggs

_Hello everyone. I am the evil Dr MilkyWay (Fear me), and tonight, I am here to bring you a production made by yours truly, inspired by SkyVu Entertainment's "Battle Bears" franchise, telling the origin of the Battle Bear Riggs as a young bear, how the main protagonist of the series and Riggs's little brother, Oliver, came into his custody, and Riggs's first team as a soldier before he became the leader of Oliver, Wil, and Astoria today._

_I would like to remind you that the events depicted here are not part of any canon in the Battle Bears series, and is simply meant to show an interpretation of the Battle Bears origin story for entertainment purposes only. The story of the Cyber-Bear Species in the beginning is simply meant for some background, not to taken to heart. In other words, don't yell at me if you don't like the first four paragraphs. If an actual origin for their species had ever been told, I would have used that, but for the purpose of storytelling, I have been forced to resort to taking some imaginary story liberties._

_What you are about to read is an imaginary story. But then again, aren't they all?_

* * *

**"If my service in the Battle Bears has taught me anything, it's that no matter what pleasure or fear you may find in hunting monsters and leading a team, nothing is more important than the lives of those close to you. Because you will never be able to let them go or forgive yourself if you lose them."**

**-Riggs, reflecting upon the events of this story 10 years in the future, aka Present Day.**

* * *

Two months ago, the Battle Bears initiative was put into effect. The purpose of this group was to raise the warriors of tomorrow today, to select the optimal soldiers from the most qualified children, and train them in the field of battle so they may protect the world of bears in it's time of need.

The reason world of the bears did not have this military faction prior is because they simply did not need it. The bear society was very new in relation to the human race, and after they had separated themselves from all human society, they established their land, government, and society on a planet far from Earth. In their isolation, they had no need to found a strong military division in their utopian society, so it did not exist.

What changed all that was an incident triggered by a group of young bears in a residential area. A band of five did not believe they had any obligation to follow the bear world's expectations nor did they have any respect for the new society they lived in. So they rebelled. On a fateful day, these five children, none of them past high school, used their right to bear arms to kill 46 and would 97 innocent bears in a residential area. They were only stopped an hour into their spree by another group of brave children who successfully disarmed and subdued three of them, but the other two committed suicide before the "Battling Bears" as they called themselves could capture them.

The new bear society was shaken up by this mishap. Memorials were held, deaths were mourned, and the world of bears was changed forever. They had seen the potential of children. Their eyes were opened of how dangerous they could be and how courageous they could be. And so to ensure the next generation of bears's full potential could be exploited, the "Battle Bears" initiative was born. It's mission? To take the most fit youngsters for battle, teach them how to use weapons, how to protect their world, and how to work as a team to combine their skills.

* * *

At approximately 12:30 AM, a potentially crazy bear started a shooting rampage in a local park, killing countless civilians in rapid succession.

A team of five young Battle Bears and their older leader was dispatched to quickly and quietly subdue the murderer. The team includes a polar bear, a brown bear, a black bear, and a panda around the age of 14, with a grizzly around the age of 20.

At this exact moment, the young polar bear is hiding behind a bathroom stall of a park he couldn't remember the name of awaiting the signal from his team to move in on their target.

This particular polar bear joined the Battle Bears when he had first heard of it two months ago, and he was approved a week later. The polar bear became the fifth member of a team who had become his closest friends, and years later he would reflect on their time together and call them "family".

The polar bear had a shotgun ready, and tensely squatted around the corner of the stall.

The only sound the polar bear heard was the rattling of the target's uzi firing in the air like a fountain as the punk laughed like a clown. The polar bear does not peak around the corner, due to the possibility that the crazed bear sees him. After what felt like an eternity, another noise came from his comm, the voice of a 20 year old grizzly.

"Abram here. Grayson, the target is headed away from your position. Can you get a clear shot? Over."

"He's waving around his weapon too much for me to disarm him, over," came the voice of a brown bear.

"Damn. You will need to cripple him. Can you shoot out his feet, over."

"Indeed. I've got his pattern down, I can take out both his legs, over."

"Perfect," a few seconds of silence pass as Abram checks his radar for who is closest to their target. "Who's at the bathroom?"

The polar bear put his pointer finger on his headset to respond to Abram. "Riggs here, I'm at the bathroom, over."

"All units, listen here. We need to be quick. Grayson, you are going to use your sniper to shoot out the target's legs when I say "go". If Grayson has successfully grounded the target, Riggs, you will wait for the word "go" twice, then will move into the fountain to disarm the target. After that, all other units will move in to subdue the target. Understood?"

A collective "Understood" was heard from the other four members of Abram's team, including Riggs.

"Grayson, you will wait for the target to arrive at the fountain, then you will shoot out his legs. Keep your sights on him if anything goes wrong with his encounter with Riggs."

"Roger."

"Don't mess this up, Riggs," said the voice of a black bear.

"Shut up, Sterling, I need to aim," said Grayson.

"Shhh...Quiet, you guys could reveal us," said a panda.

The groan of a black bear was heard through the whole team's headsets.

* * *

The eternal silence returned. And then it was interrupted again by the word "Go", and the sound of two shots and a grunt from the target.

Riggs switched his shotgun for a handgun and waited for the signal.

"Go! Go! Go! Target down!"

Riggs had already bolted before his captain had finished the first "Go!". Like a sprinter on the 100 meter dash, the young polar bear bolted from his hiding spot to the park square, where the target was lying on his stomach in front of a fountain with an uzi in hand, not yet realizing the polar bear running for him. Riggs kicked the already downed target, making him drop his weapon, which slid on the ground far out of reach. Riggs stepped back and perfected his stance as he aimed his handgun in between the target's eyes.

At this point, it had been a good few seconds since Riggs's friends began to move in, but the rest of his team only arrived on the scene now, all armed with diverse weapons aiming at the target's head.

Abram arrived on the scene first, but was more focused on informing the authorities that the target was ready to be delivered to jail. The rest of Riggs's team was not far behind, with Grayson, Morgan and Sterling coming from three directions and closing in on the downed target and Riggs.

"Good job, Riggs," said the panda.

With the rest of his team ready to fire at the target, Riggs was free to tell his his friend "Thank you, Morgan".

"You kids feel like you're so powerful, don't you?" said the downed gunner.

"I suggest you remain silent, sir," said Morgan, still aiming his rifle at the target.

"Shut the #% * up, you stupid cub," said the pathetic bear.

"I am sorry you don't like me. I also don't blame you, considering my fiends have harmed you," said Morgan.

There was always something about Morgan that always seemed to shut up anyone who disagreed with him. Our target was no different, as he never spoke to us again after Morgan said that to him.

Grayson turned to Riggs.

"I gotta say Riggs, that was really awesome how you came in and kicked his gun out of his hands before I even finished telling you I hit him. That whole thing there went flawlessly."

Riggs said nothing but gave a small smile and nodded slightly, not looking away from the target down the sights of his handgun.

At this point, Sterling approached the downed target from the side and bent over so his assault rifle was level with his head.

"How many people did you kill today?" asked Sterling as he aggressively poked the target with the muzzle of his assault rifle.

Silence, except for Abram conversing with the authorities about prisoner transport.

"How many?"

The target turned his head to spit on Sterling. He was dumbfounded by this display of defiance to him, but quickly came to his senses and showed what happened to those who disrespected his power.

WHAMM! In one punch, the target got a bloody nose from Sterling.

"Sterling, stop!" Morgan called innocently.

Morgan's call did not seem to register with Sterling.

"HOW MANY BEARS HAVE YOU KILLED TODAY?!"

Grayson lowered his sniper rifle to slowly approach Sterling, but stepped back when he saw a Riggs determinately approaching his ally.

Riggs grabbed Sterling's arms from behind before he could harm the target any further, and threw him on the grass with little consideration for damage done to him.

Riggs turned back to Grayson and Morgan "Keep an eye on the target while I discipline Sterling. We can't risk him hurting any of us."

They both nodded and put full focus on aiming at the target.

"Why do you do this, Sterling? Every time we bust a freak like this, you rage against them. You nearly killed a bear after we vanquished him once, and that needs to stop," said Riggs.

"How can you let him do this?"

"How can I let him do what?"

"How can you let him go unpunished after he waltzes into this park and kills other bears? How can you expect ME to do that?"

"I expect that man will get what's coming to him. It's up to the authorities how severe his punishment is, not you."

"Why the hell can't I? Why can't we clean up the mess instead of brush it aside?"

"Sterling, if we were executioners, you would kill every one we encounter who's not on our team."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. If it were up to you, you would kill everyone we meet, and their friends and families will never see them again, no matter how wrong whatever they did was."

"Shut up Riggs, you don't know me. Get the hell off me, already!" said the angry Sterling Bear as he got up and shoved Riggs aside. He began to head over to Abram, to be away from the rest of the team.

_What a stubborn #%$*%#$. That punk could be one of the guys we take down if he weren't on our team,_ thought Riggs.

Sirens blared in the distance signaling the transport of the target.

* * *

After the incident, the team returned to Battle Bears HQ in time for dinner. It was like a college campus with multiple buildings with their own purposes. There was the arms wing, the research facility, the quarters of the troops, and much more.

All of the team sat in their bunks socializing, talking about the usual things, how terrible breakfast was, a funny story Grayson had involving a friend of his from his old neighborhood, a quick joke from the otherwise silent Morgan that made everyone laugh for a good five seconds, and Sterling trying to make the conversation about him.

It wasn't long until the dinner bell rang, and the sound of other young Battle Bears having their own conversations breached the hallways to the cafeteria.

Riggs was about to head out when his phone went off. He looked at it, and it was a number he didn't know. He decided to hold back in case it was important.

"Hey guys, I'mma take this, save my seat," called Riggs.

"We will, Riggs! Don't take too long," said Abram.

Riggs sat on his bunk, the one nearest the east window, and answered the call. A holographic screen appeared from the device. There was a bear about five years older than Abram he was a grizzly who was sitting behind a desk in front of a window with a view of downtown.

"Is this Riggs of the Battle Bears?"

"Yes, sir," responded Riggs politely.

"Hello, Riggs. My name is Mr. Maurice, and I'm from the Maurice Family Adoption Agency. I have some very big news for you, Riggs. Are you aware you have a younger brother?"

Riggs was not aware. The news hit him like a bullet in the back, with his muscles tightening, his ears raising in the air, and his full attention brought toward Mr. Maurice. "I have a little brother?"

The bear reached his arms offscreen, and they returned with the most adorable brown bear cub he had ever seen in his life. "Riggs, this is Oliver. Your brother." The cub looked at Riggs on the monitor and smiled.

"This is very exciting news, but how did you find him, or know he was my brother?" asked Riggs.

The bear was somberly silent, but the baby was sure happy.

"Riggs, I'm afraid there's no easy way to tell you this. The child was found on our doorstep. He was stuck in his crib with this note on it."

The bear held up a note from Riggs's mother to the camera. He began to read it to him.

* * *

_Riggs,_

_I'm sorry. I couldn't take care of him. After you left the house, I couldn't take the pressures of raising the child alone. You have to understand, after everything that has happened with your father, I just couldn't take it anymore. So I've left your little brother with people who can care for him. Don't worry about me, I just need to get away from it all, to start over._

_What I'm saying is, you will never see me again. I wish the best for you and little Oliver. I realize you have every reason in the world to be angry with me, but if you are willing to fulfill this poor woman's last request to you, be sure to visit your little brother and be a part of his life. There is no one I want him to model himself after more than you. I love you Riggs, goodbye._

_-Mom_

* * *

Riggs was speechless.

"The reason I am calling is because little Oliver is going up for adoption here by next week, unless you can find someone trustworthy to be his guardian," said Mr. Maurice.

Riggs did not know anyone he trusted enough to watch his little brother, especially not a stranger who came to that building. Riggs closed his eyes, and with little consideration for how it impacted his Battle Bears career, made the decision right then and there.

"I will be his guardian," said Riggs.

"You? You're not old enough," said Mr. Maurice.

"Being a Battle Bear gives me the necessary qualifications to have custody over another bear. I can show you the documents stating so if you don't believe me."

"I believe you, but you're still a boy! You've got your life ahead of you, and so does little Oliver," said Mr. Maurice as he cradled the baby brown bear in his right arm. "If I hand him over to you, you'll lose that."

Riggs realized what he was doing was big, but he knew eventually being a Battle Bear would require him to be away for extended periods of time, and he wasn't about to exclude himself from his own little brother's life.

"Mr. Maurice, I will be my little brother's guardian. If possible, I would like to pick him up tomorrow at noon, so I can prepare for his arrival."

Mr. Maurice realized there was no arguing with the young polar bear.

"Very well. You will have the address with you at the conclusion of the call, and I will have him fed, packed, and ready for you at noon tomorrow," said Mr. Maurice.

"Thanks you, sir," said Riggs.

"I should really be calling you that, you know," said Mr. Maurice.

"Not yet. I'm not a high enough rank yet. One day, though. But Oliver is never going to call me sir, just 'Riggs' and 'brother'," said Riggs with a smile.

"That is very touching. I will see you tomorrow," said Mr. Maurice as he terminated the call.


	2. Bringing home Little Oliver

It was 1:30 PM. Grayson, Morgan, and Sterling had perched themselves at the front gate of the Battle Bears premises, eagerly awaiting the return of Riggs and Abram. At dinner the night previous, Riggs had informed them he now had a little brother he was going to raise himself.

All three of them were very excited to hear this. If Abram was happy, he did not show it, but he must have had some appreciation for it because he volunteered to drive Riggs to the adoption agency in his own car.

And that very same car was now returning to the gates from which it left. All of the bears got up as the car came to a stop and two figures emerged from it, neither holding a baby.

"Um, Riggs? At dinner last night you told us you would bring home a tiny bear for us. Just how tiny is he?" asked Grayson sarcastically.

"At your feet," Riggs said jokingly.

Grayson looked down on instinct before realizing He'd been made a fool of. To keep the joke going, he asked Morgan "You got a magnifying glass on you Mor-"

But he could finish because his face was suddenly drenched in water.

After cleaning out his eyes, he got up to see Sterling and Morgan standing on either side of Riggs to see an energetic little brown bear's head and arms poking out of Riggs's backpack with a freshly soaker.

"I like this kid already," said Sterling. "Can I hold him?" he asked as he already outstretched his hands towards him.

"No!" SQUIRT! Was Sterling's answer, as the baby fired the soaker at Sterling's face, taking him aback.

Riggs couldn't help but laugh at how careless the child was with his toy.

"No, I think Oliver likes it in my backpack," said Riggs as he carefully removed his backpack and held it in front of him, his arms bent at a 90° angle. "It's sort of his secret lair. He crawled in without me knowing while I was signing the forms, and has stayed there since we picked him up."

As baby Oliver saw his older brother again, he pointed to him with his arm jumping all over exclaiming "WIGGS!"

"He knows your name..." said Morgan.

"I know. I think he read it off my backpack," said Riggs as he looked at his name on his military backpack.

"The kid can read? Do you think he would know our names if we turned around and he saw our backpacks?" said Morgan.

"I dunno. I feel like he would have trouble with two-syllable names," said Riggs.

Abram, who had been hanging back to let his team socialize with the baby, decided to chime in.

"Team, I realize you are all very excited to have Little Oliver here, but what's more important right now is taking care of him," said Abram. "Riggs, I trust you have gathered the necessary resources to do so?"

Riggs was silent, but his expression showed Abram pointed that out to him for the first time.

"Well...I made him a little bed in our room, and we already have plenty of milk...," said Riggs. "He's old enough that he doesn't need formula, so we didn't need that..."

"Food? Diapers? Toys? Someone to watch him when we're on missions?"

Riggs facepalmed. "Huddle up!"

The four members of the team excluding their leader formed a huddle.

"Alright team, I'm going to assign the four of us a mission! We need to find the things Abram just said for Little Oliver.

"I'm right behind you, Riggs," said Morgan.

"Awaiting orders and ready for adventure," said Grayson.

"Whatever, what do you need?" said Sterling.

"Morgan and Grayson, you two will be getting the little kid food and diapers. For food think fruits and vegetables, maybe cereal, and just a little candy if possible. Sterling, you're toys. The kid likes his soaker, if you want an idea. I'll find someone to watch him when we're on missions," said Riggs. "We can keep in close contact with our comms. Everyone got it?"

"Yeah!"

"Got it."

"I can do that."

"Perfect. Break!"

All three of Riggs's teammates began to disperse in opposite directions, but all three of them came back.

"Wait, why are you all back?"

None of us can drive."

"Oh. Abram! We need you to help us with errands!"

_What are we coming to when a member of the Battle Bears is able to say that on duty?_ thought Abram.

"As long as we won't eventually have to carpool with other teams," said Abram as he unlocked his car for his team.

* * *

Riggs turned back towards the campus-like Battle Bears HQ with Little Oliver peeking over his right shoulder from his backpack, silently taking in the beauty of the place.

Riggs hadn't even thought of someone to watch him while he was fighting crime. Fortunately, he knew just the person. And if this wasn'y one of her bad days, she was right behind him right now as he casually walked in between buildings.

It wasn't.

Riggs heard her, only because she wanted him to.

"Hey there, snow bear," said a feminine voice behind Riggs.

It was Riley. A petite beige bear, Riley was the closest thing Riggs has ever had to a girlfriend. They have never become an item, but are still very good friends who flirt often. She was also the stealthiest of the female Battle Bears and let that be known, most often by sneaking up on people who entered her hangout in between the test range and the mess hall.

For example, before she revealed herself, she had stolen Little Oliver from Riggs's backpack and covered his mouth in such a way so he couldn't reveal her.

"Care to explain this?" as she looked at Little Oliver, not as happy as usual.

"Hey there, sexy. As you can see, I've got a kid to watch now," said Riggs.

"I can see that. So what made you want to adopt a kid?"

"He's not adopted," said Riggs.

Riley's eyes exploded in size, and was completely speechless as she looked at the baby. "You mean..."

Riggs's face suddenly turned as red as Riley's eyes. "Oh, no! No, no, no, he's not my son! I didn't...I'm so sorry, no, no, no, he's my brother, not my son."

Riley breathed a sigh of relief. She loosened her grip on the child, allowing him to breathe a gasp for air, for Riley had been holding him a bit too tight.

Little Oliver's first impression of Riley had been rather negative, and he expressed his dissatisfaction with her by biting her arm, which caused her to drop him on his bum.

"Ow!" cried Riley in pain.

"WAAAAAAAAAAHH!" cried Little Oliver in pain.

Riggs picked up Little Oliver and cradled him in his arms as he continued to speak with Riley.

"So after that vastly improvable first meet, what I came down here to ask was if you could watch Oliver occasionally when I'm on missions," said Riggs.

"You know what? I can resist an adorable face," said Riley as she tried to touch Little Oliver's chin, but was brushed away by him threatening her with his soaker. Riley then reached up to lightly stroke Riggs's chin. "TWO adorable faces, however, how could I resist? I'll be the kid's sitter. Just send me a message when the call of duty comes, I'll be right over."

Riggs let the butterflies leave his stomach before he thanked her. "Thanks Riley. I'm still setting up my life with this guy, and I've learned I'm going to need all the help I can get, just hearing what I forgot from Abram."

"I see. My team wanted to do something at 2:30, so I'd better get going. I'll pester you about him later," said Riley.

She then pulled a grappling hook from her belt, which quickly latched to the roof of the building to her right within a second of firing. After it pulled her up and she did a flip onto the roof.

Before she went on her way, she looked down over her shoulder and waved at Riggs on the ground. "Talk to you later, handsome."

Riggs smiled in silence.

A whistle was heard from Little Oliver as he looked up from Riggs's backpack.

Riggs turned his neck as far as it would go with an extremely puzzled look on his face.

"Okay, I don't even know how to begin commenting on that," said Riggs. Little Oliver was confused by the phrase.

* * *

Back at Riggs's team's room. Riggs showed Little Oliver around. There wasn't much to show.

"Okay, so here's everyone's bunk here. I'm top left, Morgan is bottom left, Grayson is top right, Sterling is bottom right, and Abram is that way better bed in the back corner," said Riggs as he gesticulated around the room. "Over there is our sort of kitchen area with the Microwave and Fridge. You'll primarily be eating with us at the Cafeteria, though."

Riggs made sure not to point out the gun racks on the wall of each of the five team members' bunks.

He then walked over to an unused bunk in the corner. "This is where you'll be sleeping. I got you extra soft blankets and a night light over here. It's got a smiley face on it. You've also got a good view of the other buildings through the window."

"Wa! Wa!" Little Oliver reached over Riggs's shoulder, as if he was trying to grab his bunk. Riggs lifted his arms over his head to pick up Little Oliver and place him in his bunk.

Riggs though it was so innocent how Little Oliver just wanted to mess around with his blankets in bed, maybe even make a pillow fort-

Little Oliver tore the night light out of the socket and chucked it out the window like a baseball.

"..." said Riggs as he looked 15 stories down at the ground where the night light landed. It had shattered upon impact, and Riggs could swear the smiley face was now a frowny face.

He then proceeded to shut the window and lock it.

"I no afwaid of da dawk, Wiggs," said Little Oliver.

"Or chucking things out 15-story windows," said Riggs. "Don't do that again."

"Okey dokey," said Little Oliver.

His straight face had receded back into it's usual bright smile as he inevitably jumped on his bed, giggling like a bear in a straight jacket.

"He he he he, ahahahaha!"

"Be careful, little bear, if you jump too high, you might hit-"

CLANG!

"-the top of the bed. Are you okay?!"

Silence as Little Oliver felt the spouting bump on the top of his head and water welled up in his eyes.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" screeched Little Oliver as he sat up and tilted his head back in pain.

"Uh oh. How do I react to this?" said Riggs aloud.

Riggs knew little about how to make a boo boo go away, but he had learned a thing or two from the medics at Battle Bears HQ. If only it were Morgan here, he was the team's certified field medic.

So Riggs did the only thing he could think to do:

A quick trip to the fridge.

Little Oliver had calmed down at this point, but was still sniffling. Then Riggs came back with the ice pack, and had Oliver give him his attention.

"Listen here! Hold this to your head," said Riggs as he demonstrated how to apply an ice pack to your own head.

He carefully bent on one knee so his head was level to Little Oliver's on the bed as he place the ice pack in his tiny mitten shaped hands.

Riggs smiled as Little Oliver examined the ice pack, stretching it and rolling it up before he finally put it on his head.

Riggs's smile turned into his mouth agape when Little Oliver once again chucked the ice pack at the shut window, shattering the glass and sending it down the same 15-story drop the night light did, Oliver amused at the noise of the shattering.

On the bright side, the night light now had something to make it feel better.

But Riggs didn't let himself breathe until he made sure the ice pack didn't hit anybody.

"You just lost any privileges you might have had before about getting a pet," said Riggs. "I thought I told you not to do that."

"I'm sowwy, Wiggs," said Little Oliver.

Riggs was about to say "it's okay," but he stopped himself, because it wasn't okay. Hug could have killed someone if they hit them. He decided to be a bigger bear and show the boy who's in charge.

He got down on one knee again and grabbed Little Oliver's chin and brought sir faces close together. "You listen to me now, young cub. If I see you chuck anything at all in this room again, you're going to have things taken away from you. Things that you enjoy, things that you play with, like that soaker of yours."

"Not my soaka!" cried Little Oliver.

"If you want to keep it, you will not throw anything in this room, especially not towards that window. You could hurt somebody if you actually hit someone. Is that clear, little boy?"

"Yes, sir," said Little Oliver.

"Very good," said Riggs as he got off his knee and stood up tall. "It's been a long day for you, kiddo. Why don't ya take a nap?"

"Okay..." said Little Oliver as he pulled himself under his covers. His voice was very glum, as he was deeply affected by Riggs's harsh words.

Riggs stationed himself in a chair that he could see Little Oliver from, and took the moment to reflect on the events.

_Come on Oliver, why did you make me have to yell at you? I don't wanna do that to you ever, why would you make me? I guess he just needs me to show him the way, and that's going to involve showing him what he's doing wrong,_ thought Riggs.

Riggs sunk into his chair as he watched Little Oliver trying to go to sleep. He wondered how his teammates were faring in their errands.

At that exact moment, he felt his comm make a small rumble, which meant someone was calling. He picked it up and put it against his ear.

"Riggs, we're in trouble," said Grayson on the other end. "We're at the Ursa City Mall mall and the whole place has been taken hostage by a terrorist group. We need backup, now."

Riggs got up from his seat and stood tall as he talked to his friend. "Where are you in the mall?"

"I'm with Morgan, and we're hiding in the food court behind some service counters while we try to think of something. Sterling is in some toy shop, we're figuring out what to do, we could use some help, through."

Riggs looked at Little Oliver, who was now asleep.

I guess I can leave him like this, as long as I make sure he doesn't go out the window, thought Riggs.

"I'll be right there, notify all Battle Bears you can get ahold of," said Riggs as he covered up the window and made his way to the door.

Riggs was standing in the elevator as he continued talking to Grayson. "Where is Abram?"

"Not here. We only dropped us off here while we grabbed stuff for the kid and told us to meet back in 90 minutes, I have no idea where he went."

"Damn it. Keep me updated on what's happening, I'll make my way over there."

"Will do."

Riggs made it to the ground floor of the building, where he grabbed his team's personal vehicle, the Leaping Rhino, as they called it. It was an armed and armored vehicle with the ability to propel itself off the ground on command while reaching high top speeds, creating it's fitting name.

Riggs jumped in the cockpit, turned on the siren, and made his way to the Ursus City Mall.

* * *

Grayson and Morgan were ducking behind the counter of a burger joint at the food court of the Ursus City Mall. Eleven minutes ago, an organized group had effectively taken the mall and everyone in it hostage during their mission to find the necessary items to take care of Little Oliver.

Neither of them had seen Sterling, who had gone to find toys for the boy while they needed to grab food, but they have been in close contact through their comms.

All around them, bears of all sizes, colors, and ages were lined up against the walls of the mall, being patrolled by the terrorists who had taken the mall. Fortunately they were undiscovered, and were currently discussing how to stop the terrorists.

"We need to stop these punks now, before they hurt someone," whispered Grayson, as he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"No. There's only three of us here. Abram can't give us orders since he's God-knows-where, and with only three of us, we're severely outnumbered. We should wait for Riggs," whispered Morgan.

"Morgan, we can't wait for backup, because they won't be able to breach without people dying and we'll lose the advantage here," whispered Grayson.

"Advantage? They have a lot more guys than us, Grayson..."

"I say we mow these #*%$ers down," said Sterling through the intercom.

"Of course you do," said Grayson. "And I hope we don't have to come to that."

Grayson adopted a sharper voice to explain his logic behind his thoughts.

"Here's the thing: guys like these are looking for a pretty high ransom for a situation as big as this. They've probably alerted a lot of authority figures of this, and odds are, the Battle Bears are already mobilizing. But that's just it, they don't think the Battle Bears are here. But we are. Therefore, we can make sure that everything about this goes in our favor before anyone has to give into any demands," explained Grayson.

"I'm liking the sound of this," said Sterling. "So what do we do while we have the upper hand?"

Grayson's stomach collapsed at the question.

"I...I don't know. I'm not as good a tactician as Abram or Riggs. I don't know how to stop these guys without having them not kill a hostage," said Grayson.

"Don't doubt yourself, Grayson. We're here, we can think of something together," said Morgan.

The brown bear would have smiled at his panda friend's words of encouragement if not for how dire of a situation they were in.

"Let's see, what we need to do is make sure they don't have such a size advantage on us," said Grayson. "To cut down on their numbers we should probably capture several of their guys. Quickly and quietly, before they figure us out. Morgan, there's a guy with his back turned over there. While he's unaware, we can-"

A flat "No," stopped Grayson's words from escaping his mouth.

"Sterling?"

"I said no, #$%face. I've got the perfect opportunity to massacre these mother #$%ers for a few seconds, and that's not going to waste. Stand down, this one's all me."

"Absolutely not, I've got-"

"It wasn't a question."

Sterling showed what he meant with the sound of bullets rippling and men falling on whatever mystery end of the mall he was in.

"COME AT ME, YOU #$%$T% MOTHER #$%ERS!" came through the background of Sterling's comm.

Grayson's fur stood up at what he heard on the other end. Morgan, however, did not display any fear or resentment, as per usual. The target they had their sights on ran in the direction of the gunfire.

When they made sure the area was clear, Grayson and Morgan moved to another hiding spot closer to the gunfire, where they tried to get a visual of Sterling. What they saw was a crazed black bear with a machine gun darting from cover to cover, gunning down anyone who ran towards him with each jump.

"Now what?" asked Morgan.

Riggs, you'd better get here soon. This situation just got messy, over," said Grayson into the intercom.


	3. When a Hero does the Unspeakable

Grayson and Morgan did not need to hide anymore, as all the members of the terrorist group were paying no attention to the section of the mall they were in, but whether out of fear or caution, they continued hiding.

In the far distance were the cluttered yells of the men fighting Sterling. There were shouts of "He's over here!" "Get him!", and yells of pain for when Sterling hit them.

"Now what?"

"Riggs, you'd better get here soon. This situation just got messy, over," said Morgan into his comm.

At that moment, a titanic vehicle fell from the sky onto the roof of the mall. It was long and grey, with eight wheels that surrounded a rocket booster capable of propelling it off the ground. It had multipurpose turrets lining all sides of it. It was shaped like a short, plump sausage with no windows, but screens on the inside to show the driver their surroundings.

It was the Leaping Rhino, and inside it, the brave soldier Riggs!

Riggs spoke to the gargantuan vehicle's mic as he messed with the controls of the vehicle.

"Grayson, I'll arrived at the mall. I'm in the Leaping Rhino and tracking Sterling's heat signature from the roof before jumping into action. Where are you, over?"

"Hiding out in the Food Court, over. Morgan's been assessing the situation with other squads of Battle Bears surrounding the mall, and I've taken out a few guys at a time with hand-to-hand combat, over."

Grayson was exceptional at fighting with his fists. He was taught just where to hit people and how hard to hit them to stop them from doing anything bad. That on top of his great athletic speed made it no wonder he founded his old school's boxing team.

If any of the terrorists ran into the part of the mall he and Morgan were hiding, he would give them the ole 1-2: A quick surprise uppercut to stun them long enough for him to steal their weapon, followed by a severe blow to the head once on the ground, a perfect K.O..

"Excellent. We should probably mobilize soon. The Leaping Rhino has got a lock on Sterling, I'm going to pick him up, find whoever's pulling the strings on this operation, and then we take them out, over."

The Leaping Rhino charged across the roof of the mall, steadily charging toward Sterling.

* * *

Sterling had gotten himself into a bit of trouble. He sacrificed his hiding spot for the deaths of at least twenty unsuspecting terrorists, and their friends came down looking for the little punk who killed them all. At this moment, Sterling is hiding behind a directory restocking on machine gun ammo as his enemies are firing upon him. He's had bullets whizz by him, but none have hit. Having been trained to get out of these situations, Sterling readies a firewall: an official Battle Bears gadget meant to create a wall of fire that will burn anyone who tries to pass it as well as cloak from any heat sensors as he slips away.

He throws out the firewall, and it spawns an orange square of heat a few seconds after it was thrown.

Sterling dashes from the directory he was hiding behind up a nearby staircase, where he will access the balcony floor where he has the advantage on his pursuers. As he dashes up, he hears yells of "It's made of fire!" "Where did he go?" "Should we fall back?"

Sterling is almost drooling over how these punks will die to his own bear hands. Before he reaches the top of the stairs though, a loud crash is heard from the room he just left, and the voices are instead yelling "What the hell is THAT?" "Shoot it!" RATATATATATAT! The sound of ricocheting bullets annoys Sterling as he reaches the second floor, where he sees the Leaping Rhino in the middle of the terrorist bears Sterling had just outsmarted.

"Son of a- there goes my fun," said Sterling.

The multipurpose turrets of the Leaping Rhino leaped into action as two of them swiped all the terrorists with bind beams, purple lasers that slowed the movement of their targets to a standstill, until they were still like statues until a special procedure was used to release them.

All the terror bears were stopped while attacking the Leaping Rhino, their bullets only leaving dents in the side of it.

A polar bear that was very familiar to Sterling emerged from the roof of the mobile titan. "Sterling! Where are you?"

Sterling really didn't want to come with Riggs, but he was the only guy who could help him at the moment.

"Up here, Riggs!" shouted Sterling once he reached the second floor.

Riggs looked up to see Sterling over the railing.

"Get on down here, we're going to take the Leaping Rhino to the brains of this operation after I find out where he is."

Sterling made his way back down the staircase, and once he did, he saw Riggs toss aside a terrorist bear like a giant action figure.

Riggs got in the back of the Leaping Rhino, where there were gunner seats with VR headsets that displayed a simulation of the world outside to show where Riggs was firing that.

"You drive. He's at the guest services desk at the front of the mall. I'll tell Grayson and Morgan to-"

"We won't need them when we've got this thing," said Sterling as he started the vehicle.

"But what if we need to-"

Riggs stopped mid sentence. Through his headsets, he saw the dead bodies of the bears Sterling killed whizz by as Sterling plowed through the hall of the mall.

"You killed bears today."

"With that many of them, they were going to hurt living things."

"You killed bears today."

"I had the perfect opportunity to, and I wasn't about to let it go to waste."

"You killed bears today."

"I had to, at least once. And I'm glad I did, it felt so good to put them in their place."

"Stop the car."

"No."

"Sterling, stop the goddamn car," said Riggs as he snapped out of his stupor.

"No. We're almost there, I can already see the hostages lining the walls."

"We'll talk about this later."

"Shut up, you whiner. I saved lives doing that."

Riggs's blood boiled with every justification Sterling gave himself for killing those bears. But stopping their leader was more important at the moment.

The Leaping Rhino became silent as it suddenly flipped into the air.

When it landed, the impact damaged both Riggs and Sterling as they were dumped onto the roof of the vehicle.

Sterling opened the door of the vehicle with his machine gun ready, and aimed at the first bear he saw, followed by Riggs aiming at the same bear.

Upon getting a better look at his environment, Riggs saw hostages were lining the walls of the uncrowded main hall of the mall, and a brown bear in a clown mask was holding a handgun at the throat of a little girl in his arms as she stupidly struggled.

"Drop the kid," said Riggs as he aimed his rifle at the terrorist.

"Drop the kid? DROP THE KID?! You punks come in here, slaughter half my men, and now expect me to do whatever the hell you say?"

"You are in no position to make demands," said Sterling.

"Yeah? Well you know what I think of that? Huh?"

BLAM!

* * *

_Six hours later, back at Battle Bears HQ_.

The incessant tapping left Riggs, Grayson, and Morgan unnerved as they each had their eyes glued to the ground. They were in an interrogation room, complete with the box shape, soundproof walls, metal chairs the three friends sat at, and the metal table from which the tapping came from.

Or more specifically, the tapping came from a tall bear with broad shoulders, with a badge symbolizing his superiority over all Battle Bears, young and old.

The tapping stopped.

"So," began Commander Walters, "Who would like to go first?"

Silence.

"I have something to say," said Grayson as he lifted his head so his eyes met Walters's "What happened back there, I assure you wasn't Riggs's fault. I'm sure he was pressured by Sterling-"

"Your ally was shot in the chest. I don't think he could have told Riggs to fire back," said Commander Walters.

"It was an accident then. Caught in the heat of the moment. Riggs would never-"

"Dismiss them," interrupted Riggs with his arms crossed, not lifting his head to make eye contact.

"I can't do that yet," said Commander Walters, now looking down at Riggs.

"I have something to say, something not for my team to hear," said Riggs, now lifting his head slightly.

"Anything you have to say to me can be said to them," responded the Commander.

"Commander, Grayson and Morgan had nothing to do with my incident. The only people you're going to get information from is me and Sterling. I do not want them to be in the room right now," said Riggs.

Morgan said nothing, but soon figured out what Riggs was about to tell Walters. Out of respect, he kept quiet.

"Very well. Soldiers, you are dismissed," said Walters as he opened the door for Morgan and Grayson.

As they walked out single file, Abram stood by patiently, and as they approached him, he led them to the medical treatment ward to pay Sterling a visit. He was fairly close to the entrance of the ward.

Abram laid a hand on Grayson and Morgan's shoulders as they stood over their sleeping he lay in his bed unconscious and bandaged, he looked like something he wasn't: calm.

"When do you suppose he'll wake up?" asked Grayson to Abram.

"I have no idea. It could be few days, it could be a few weeks," said Abram.

"I'm so glad the bullet went through him. It's much more painful when it breaks up inside you," said Morgan.

"It's a real good thing you got to him when you did, Morgan," said Grayson. "If he'd lost any more blood, he might not be alive."

"There's nothing more we can do, children," said Abram. It wasn't often Abram referred to them as children, because he always saw them as much more. "It's been a long day, and I think you two need some rest. Riggs isn't going to be free for a while, and I don't think our team is going on any missions for a while."

The sun was still setting, but no one objected to going to bed then. As they left Sterling behind, Abram kept his hands on each of his two protégés' shoulders as he led them out. Not one word was spoken until they returned to their dorm, where they conversed only in little bits as they made their usual nighttime preparations: brushing their teeth, getting their clothes for tomorrow, and heading off to bed.

* * *

Not once had any of them thought of Little Oliver, whom none of them had seen since Riggs went off with him that morning. And he remained absent from their mind because he was not in the room.

Fortunately, he was not forgotten by all. After she heard of the incident Riggs got in, she snuck into his team'h dorm via window, and made sure the kid got everything he needed for the rest of the day, and then had a little bit of fun with him in her dorm.

At that exact moment, Little Oliver was enjoying himself some Mac & Cheese as Riley had her own meal. Emphasis on enjoy. He spent more time splashing cheese around his high chair and getting it in his fur than eating it. But he was sure having fun, so Riley didn't mind.

"You like Mac & Cheese, Ollie?" asked Riley playfully.

"I WIKE MAC AND CHEESE, WIWY!" exclaimed Little Oliver.

"Calm down, the neighbors might hear," whispered Riley as she put two fingers in from of her mouth and pointed to the walls of the dorm.

"Okey dokey," said Little Oliver.

After dinner, Riley left the kid to some cartoons on her team's TV as she went to the bathroom.

"You know, being a babysitter isn't really as bad as they make it out to be if every kid's like this one," said Riley to herself as she left the bathroom.

She stood corrected.

A natural disaster named Little Oliver happened while she was gone. There were slash marks in the cushions of her bed, one of the seats was chopped to bits, a ceiling fan had fallen out the ground, and in the middle of the mess was Little Oliver with a katana. Her katana. Her personal katana she didn't even use anymore, but kept as her prized possession.

"Okay kiddo, I need that back," said Riley as she bent over to take it from Little Oliver.

"No-oo!" responded Little Oliver as he jerked the katana away. "I want it!"

"It's mine. My sword," said Riley as she stood back up with her arms crossed.

"Mine now," said Little Oliver as he stuck his tongue out at Riley.

"I see..." said Riley. She now had a plan.

"Well by that same token, I guess your soaker is now mine," said Riley as she picked up Oliver's solar from the counter.

Little Oliver instantly ran for the soaker going "Nonononono-" but was stopped by Riley's hand as she pulled it away from him.

"Oliver, we're going to make a deal. I'll give you the soaker if you give me the katana. The squirt gun for the sword," said Riley.

Little Oliver debated for a bit before dropping the katana. Riley gave Little Oliver the soaker back, and peace was restored to the world again.

* * *

After a little bit of time watching cartoons together, Little Oliver asked Riley the inevitable question: "When is Wiggs coming back?"

Riley knew this question was coming since she picked up the kid, so she had all that time to prepare he answer, which was "Riggs has done something naughty, and now his friends want to talk to him about it."

"Big bwuthuh was bad? Whuh happen?"

"He hurt someone really bad. They'ye on a long vacation now," responded Riley.

"When will big bruthuh be back?" asked Little Oliver.

A buzzing came from the front door.

"Bees!" yelled Little Oliver.

He got up and ran to the door "Gimme yo honey, bees!"

Little Oliver trotted all the way to the door with Riley close behind. Riley opened the door for Little Oliver, revealing Riggs behind the door.

"Hey there, fella," said Riggs as he bent over for his little brother.

"WIGGS!" exclaimed Little Oliver as he jumped into Riggs's arms, where he instantly climbed over his shoulders like an insect, and as if it was his bomb shelter, he slid in his backpack and closed the top.

"Dear God, someone's got some energy," said Riggs as he looked over his shoulder to see Little Oliver had closed the backpack.

"You haven't said hello yet. I'm heartbroken," said Riley.

"Thank you for taking care of him, beautiful," said Riggs.

"Now THAT'S more like it. Anytime, big bear," said Riley.

She soon dropped any flirty thoughts she had in her as she leaned in close and asked Riggs "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, I do," said Riggs.

Riggs put his backpack with Little Oliver down on the table as he followed Riley over to her scratched up couch.

"Did you get as cat as well...?"

"It turns out the kid is good with a sword. I might have to get him one for his birthday one day," said Riley. "But start from the beginning, Riggs. What happened?"

Riggs looked straight ahead at the wall rather than to her side where Riley was.

"Well, Sterling and I were about to confront the terrorist's leader. We were surrounded by his hostages from all sides, and he stood on top of the information desk with a kid in his arm which he held at gunpoint. We yelled at each other for a little bit, and then- and then he shot Sterling."

Riley scratched her fur a little bit.

"And he was going to shoot me next. So I did the only thing I could. I put a bullet in him. I put a bullet in his head. He dropped the kid on the desk and fell forwards on his face. I was- I was so angry he shot Sterling that I put another, and another, and another through his head, and then kicked his body while everyone watched."

Riley put her hand over her mouth. "Riggs, listen to me, you had an outburst. Anger gets the most of us sometimes-"

"No. It's not even that," said Riggs. He turned his head away from Riley. "I enjoyed it."

"You enjoyed it?"

"I put the first one in his head in self-defense. I had an opening, or else he was going to kill me and the child. After the first one killed him, I shot his dead body in the head again and again, because I loved putting a bullet through his head, I CRAVED it. I-"

Riley was dumbfounded by this.

"The child was still sitting on the desk. When I looked up at him, he immediately got off and ran away crying. I'm no better than him now. I'm no better than Sterling," said Riggs. "I don't think I should be the one watching Little Oliver."

"Don't you say that, you are able to control yourself. He's not," said Riley as she grabbed Riggs's arm.

"Apparently not. Riley, look into my eyes, and tell me something," said Riggs as he turned his head towards Riley for the first time the entire conversation.

"Look into my eyes and tell me who I am. I feel like I died outo there today," said Riggs.

Riley knew Riggs was tougher than this, and wasn't going to let him sink into depression when he had Little Oliver to look after.

"I look into your eyes and I see a living bear named Riggs. I see a brave warrior who will save the lives of others and will one day lead soldiers into battle. I see someone who's going to be a leader one day. I see someone who cared enough for a little cub to take him in, and give up being his brother to be his father," said Riley. "I look into your eyes and I see YOU, Riggs. Alive and well."

Riggs smiled. "Thank you Riley."

Riggs grabbed his backpack, which Little Oliver was still stealthily hiding in, gave Riley a bear hug on his way out, and headed back for his room to greet his team.

* * *

Meanwhile, ten miles outside Ursus City, a shooting star fell over the desert. It was followed by another, and another, and another, and one by one, they all fell towards the surface of the planet of the Bears.

Each one left a small crater, leaving plenty of room for the meteorites to cool down. In the time it would take for any bear's patience, to run out, they had cooled down, and began to shake. No, not shake, _hatch_.


	4. Little Oliver's New Friend

After young Riggs's eye was scanned and the sliding door to his team's dorm opened for him, he walked into the dark room.

Little Oliver had fallen asleep in Riggs's backpack. He didn't make any noise, but Riggs could feel Little Oliver's chest rise and fall as he breathed.

Abram and Grayson however, we're not as quiet. Their snores could be heard throughout the dorm, and refused to be ignored. Morgan was silent though. He was also on his side in his bed separated from the rest of the Riggs walked to the far end of the room, he placed his backpack on Little Oliver's bed and covered it with a blanket, rather than waking him up to tuck him in.

Riggs put on night vision goggles from the team's Battle Bear-issued supplies and made himself an evening meal.

He didn't care how ridiculous he looked to have night vision goggles on to eat potato chips and cereal because no one was awake. Or so he thought.

* * *

"Riggs," came a voice to his side.

Riggs turned his night vision goggles to see Morgan standing with a lighter in his hand, illuminating his face. Riggs did not know he had a lighter, because Morgan kept mostly to himself. He set the lighter down on the breakfast table and took a seat opposite Riggs as the lighter illuminated both their faces and the table.

"You can take off that ridiculous eyewear now," said Morgan.

Riggs did so, and placed them on the table next to his cereal.

"What's on your mind, Morgan?" asked Riggs.

"The future. We have the next two weeks off as recuperation from Sterling's accident." said Morgan.

"I see. Anything else?" asked Riggs,

"Oliver. Riggs, I'm not doubting you, but are you sure you know what you're doing with the kid?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Today Sterling was shot, just trying to get stuff to take care of him. We have a very dangerous line of work, and there is no guarantee you will always be there for him after each day."

"I will not let myself die, I'll survive. For him. When we're on missions, I will take every precaution to ensure I will live, just as they taught us to here."

Morgan reached a paw to the top of his head, where he scratched behind his ears.

"All it takes is one screw up. Everyone makes mistakes sometime, and he needs to be able to rely on someone when you do screw up. I'm saying if you did out there, then that child is put into protective services, then another family who could just as easily be for better or for worse. Are you willing to let him have a worse lifestyle?"

"Morgan, he's my responsibility. I'll find someone I trust to give him to."

"But are you willing to let him get attached to you first?"

Riggs looked up from the lighter to Morgan and leaned in.

"What are you saying?" Riggs asked bluntly.

"I'm saying I don't think he's going to be too happy the day you die, if you let him get too close to you," said Morgan.

"But I won't."

"You can't say that."

"I'm not giving him away."

"I think you should, war brother."

"I'm not going to give Oliver away, damn it."

"Why not?"

"Because he's my brother."

"You can't give him a life here, Riggs. You should either give him to someone else, or if you're crazy enough, drop out."

Riggs's blood boiled at Morgan's emotionless requests.

"How could you expect me to do either?!"

"I expect you to do what's best for the child."

"I will. I'll raise him to be a good honest bear, like me."

"But what if you're not what's best for him?"

"First you say what if I die, now you wonder if I'm good for him?! Morgan, you KNOW me. Have faith in my abilities as my teammate."

"I know what you did to that bear today."

Riggs was silent. He could feel the heartbeat in his chest suddenly as he rest his arms on the table and laid his black, beady eyes on Morgan's.

"Even the most basic medics know a bullet wound when they see one, and I saw five in that bastard's head. While I was examining Sterling, I saw it from a mile away. And let's not forget the marks on the sides. A good couple kicks in the side oughta do something like that."

"Morgan-"

"No. Riggs, you lost control today. That cannot be excused when you have a responsibility like this."

"This was a one-time occurrence."

"No. It's not. Like you said, Riggs, I know you. Being a bit of a silent caboose for our squad, I've made it my business to know everyone on the team."

Morgan shook his head before leaning in as he said "Riggs. You are an incredible soldier. You have great stamina, some good natural strength, the guys to do the hard jobs, and the heart of a hero. But you have another side as well, that I've seen in you. There is a sadistic monster in you, Riggs. You keep that monster contained very well, but today you let it bleed out."

Riggs kept his eyes level with Morgan's. He acknowledged everything Morgan said. He had always felt this part of him on their missions that would love to string up anyone they bust on their missions, or to execute a bear who does so much as threaten to kill someone, or even punching someone who bullied someone else until their face bled. He had half known this already, but now he really knew it.

"Yes, I know you're right. But I would never do that to Oliver, even in complete blind rage," said Riggs.

"I know you wouldn't. I'm worried about anyone who threatens his happiness, let alone his life. What will you do when he gets bullied? I doubt you'll sit aside, but I'm not so sure you'll go easy on the other kid."

"Like you said, I can keep it bottled up."

"No one can keep a part of themselves bottled up forever. One day, even I'm going to have to show myself to you guys," said Morgan.

"I'm willing to risk that."

"Why?" asked Morgan, now aggressive.

"To be with Oliver," said Riggs, even more aggressive.

"Why can't you let him be with someone safer for him," said Morgan with even more aggression. He placed his paws firmly on the table, as if he were laying out a plan on it.

"Because he is my family. I will not give up on him," said Riggs as aggression built up further.

"Are you willing to live with the consequences if-"

Riggs slammed the table.

"Oliver is the last of my family, damn you, and I will not give up on him like they did," Riggs practically yelled.

Morgan was silent, but his expression clearly asked "Who is they?" As he fielded his arms over his chest,

Riggs calmed himself, and the only sound to be heard was Abram and Grayson snoring.

"My parents. Two years ago, my father committed suicide. I don't even know what it was over, I was in boarding school and wasn't home to see what pushed him to that point. I was incredibly sad after that, but I recovered. My mother didn't. I guess some point before he died, she must have become pregnant with Oliver. I think he knew. And he took his own life anyway."

Morgan looked up at Riggs as he leaned over the table.

"My father gave up on us. He gave up on his wife, he gave up on his future son and he gave up on me. I don't care what was happening with him, it got tough, so he gave up. Last night, I learned I had a little brother. My Mom and I had become so distant, I didn't even check to see if she told me. I continued boarding school for a while, and I was about to graduate, but then two months ago, I opted out to join the Battle Bears. Dear God, I don't think I ever told her I joined the Battle Bears, we were so distant."

Morgan folded his paws as he listened to his teammate's confession. Riggs hung his head lower, so he was staring straight at the table.

"But then she gave up too, on Little Oliver. I admire that woman, she could never get over my father's death, but she fought her depression for a whole two years for the sake of the kid. But it got the best of her and she left him, they found him, I took him in, and here we are today."

Morgan kept his mouth shut and let Riggs finish as he thought up a response.

"They gave up on Oliver. They gave up on me."

Riggs raised his chin up again, so his eyes looked down to Morgan's. Morgan noticed some very subtle water forming in Riggs's left eye as he raised his fist up.

"But I won't give up on either of us. I'll keep myself in the best condition I can to raise Oliver, to teach him, send him to school, play with him, give him guidance when he's troubled, help him make friends, teach him about getting a date on prom, and even send him off one day. Read my lips: **I will not give up on Oliver.**"

Morgan had a response before he said that, but it was invalid now. So he simply responded with "Understood."

"It's been a long day. I'm going to finish my cereal then go to bed," said Riggs.

Morgan got up and went back to the corner of the room where his bunk was "Just leave my lighter there."

Riggs was already chewing down his cereal for a few minutes when Morgan turned over and said "Hey Riggs?"

Riggs turned his head toward Morgan. He couldn't see him, but he could see the reflection of his dark eyes from the lighter on the table.

"You're a good person. A natural Battle Bear, someone who's willing to do what it takes to get the tough jobs done. You've got the heart of a hero, and from what I've seen of you, stay in the Battle Bears, and you WILL lead a team of your own one day. Mark my words. And Oliver will be on it."

"No. I won't force Oliver to be a Battle Bear. I'd like to have him on my own team, but at that point, I'm going to let him live his life apart from mine. He'll probably have his own band of friends by then he'll want to be with more than me. Maybe he'll even have a girl."

Morgan darted his eyes over to Riggs's backpack, where Little Oliver silently snoozed.

"I wouldn't be so sure. I think he WILL be on your team," said Morgan as he pulled the covers back over him and turned away from Riggs.

Riggs soon turned the lighter off and went to bed.

One week later, the squad's break from the line of battle was halfway over. Oliver and Riggs bonded some, as Riggs learned the best ways to take care of the boy. The whole squad ate breakfast at the mess hall on the ground floor. Word had spread that Riggs had adopted a kid, and several other Battle Bears maturely greeted him day after day where Riggs's team sat as he had some food all over his face.

After they ate breakfast, Grayson used his day off to go around town, and get some ice cream, then do whatever. Riggs decided to accompany him with Little Oliver to the Ice Cream shop, they all got their favorite flavors, Riggs and Grayson had some good laughs as they ate while their jokes flew right over Little Oliver's head, and when they were done, Grayson went off to do whatever.

Riggs decided to bring Oliver to the local park, but with him walking at his side rather than in the backpack. There would be kids around Oliver's age there, and he wanted to gain his little brother some respect, and being carried around in a backpack doesn't yell "cool."

Little Oliver reached high up to hold Riggs's hand as they entered the canopy entrance. On the other side, they immediately found an expansive playground alive with children, with slides, swings, tunnels, bridges, mulch, plastic rocks to climb on, you name it, it was there.

Little Oliver drooled at the sight of the wonderland before him with his eyes wide and his jaw wide open. His expression remained unchanged as he turned his head to Riggs and pointed at it.

Riggs nodded, as if saying "Go there, my child."

Like a member of a bloodhound pack released for the hunt, Little Oliver ran for the playground, and Riggs retired himself to a park bench. As he closely observed Little Oliver.

The little spud was having a grand old time, running from one end of a structure to the other, jumping up and down as he stood still, doing the same slide over and over again in rapid succession before moving on to something else.

Riggs smiled as he sat back and followed the brown streak with eyes as he moved in and out of the crowd of cubs, all different fur colors, but very few of them did not match his height.

And seeing Oliver happy lifted Riggs's spirit. In the short time they'd had together thus far, Riggs's opinion of Little Oliver had solidified: he was the best little cub he'd ever met. He was stubborn, but a lot of fun, always happy, and willing to listen to him more often that not. Most importantly, he did not have to teach him how to go to the bathroom, he already knew that.

But then a change in his emotions. The moment he looks at something that's not Little Oliver, he sees a short, tan, chubby cub on the ground, and a kid bigger than him. From he looks of it, the older boy was up to no good.

The older boy kept pushing over the younger boy when he stood up. The cub tried to get up from the ground, but every time he did, the older boy would push him down, and he would laugh. The little cub whined and whined, but his every attempt to stand on his own two legs was thwarted by the older boy, until the poor thing was on it's back crying. At that point, the boy left to do something else.

This burned Riggs on the inside. But he was stronger than hurting children. He turned his head the other way, to stop thinking about it. He wanted to find Oliver again on the playground.

But Riggs was not lucky, for Little Oliver walked right over to where the little be uh was on the ground, and Riggs simply observed from a distance.

"Hewwo," said Little Oliver to the downed, crying cub.

The cub continued crying uncontrollably.

"Awe you okay?" asked Little Oliver, now bending down on his knees.

The cub rolled around on the ground, still crying and yelling loudly.

Little Oliver wanted to help the cub, but he didn't know what to do. He scratched his head, because that's what his cartoon characters do before they think of a plan.

In scratching his head, he found some leftover strawberry ice cream from earlier behind his ear. Having no concern for the spread of germs, he took the ice cream from behind his ear and dropped it in the cub's open mouth when he faced upward.

The cub was taken by surprise at first, but calmed down once he tasted the ice cream. His face was still covered in tears and snot, but he was at least sniffling quieter now and more in control of himself.

"Who wuh the beaw who push you?" asked Little Oliver.

"Meanie," responded the cub. "He won't weave me awone."

"Why?" asked Little Oliver.

The cub almost starting crying again, but stopped himself. "I donno!"

"Wha's yor name?" asked Little Oliver as he helped the cub to it's feet.

Now that Oliver was able to get a full look at his new friend, he noticed that he was the first kid he ever saw shorter than him, as well as rather fat. He had tan fur, something Oliver had rarely seen on a bear, and his eyes were as dark as Riggs's, not like his own, which had whites and pupils.

"Wil," said the chubby bear.

"Hi Wiw, I'm Owivuh," said Little Oliver to his new friend. "I say we get that buwwies back."

"But hao?" asked Lil Wil.

"Wiggs says if you want to deaw wif a buwwy, aww you have to do is give them a surprise," said Liftle Oliver.

"But hao we do that?" asked Lil Wil.

"I got an idea!" exclaimed Little Oliver. "Wait heah, I'ww be back."

The Young Riggs saw Little Oliver returning to him, and he jumped up and down as he asked "Can I have my soaka?"

Riggs knew exactly what Oliver was going to do at this point. He was going to team up with his friend to teach that bully a lesson. Any parent would have tried to resolve the matter peacefully to teach the child to come to them for help instead.

But Riggs wasn't a parent. He was Oliver's guardian, in every sense of the word.

Riggs reached into his backpack and pulled out Oliver's soaker, the only thing he brought around in Riggs's backpack with him, except for something else Riggs got for him recently.

"And that's not all..." said Riggs. He reached into his backpack further. "I was planning to save this for when you were an extra good boy, but you might need it more now."

And Riggs pulled out something that made Little Oliver giggle with satisfaction: a tiny wooden sword. It was a sleek, a golden brown piece of woodwork, with a shoulder-strap sheath that fit Little Oliver perfectly. He immediately fell in love with it.

"Go get 'im, Mr. Cool Bear," said Riggs as he presented Oliver with his soaker.

Little Oliver was clearly flattered by the title his older brother gave him, but had more important matters on his mind, like helping his new friend get even with that bully.

* * *

After they regrouped, Little Oliver and Lil Wil spotted their target on the field of plastic rocks. There were children everywhere climbing the fake purple stalagmites erupted from the otherwise flat surface.

The duo has perched themselves behind a waist-high wall that bordered the area, and they prepared their plan.

The bully was playing on top of a large and short rock near the center of the area. He was oblivious of the fact that Oliver and Wil had followed them.

The plan was soon set into motion. Oliver stepped out from behind the wall with the sword over his shoulder. He waited for the bully to face the other way, and Oliver wasted no time when he did.

Like a laser, he dashed in a straight line toward his target, passing by other bear cubs playing just as the bully was. When he reached his target, Little Oliver took his wooden sword and swiped it at the bully's feet, dropping his buttocks on the rock.

Taken completely by surprise, the bully felt his heart skip a couple beats as he felt his legs suddenly move from bellow him to in front of him, and his buttocks fell to the rock he was standing on, which caused him pain. He looked backwards to see who had done the action, and saw Little Oliver perched upon the rock he once was, as he unsheathed the wooden sword and proceeded to stick his tongue at the bully.

The bully was butthurt, figuratively and literally.

"You think you're so tough because you got that wooden sword don't you, come here twerp!" called the bully.

With absolutely no grace, the older bear came back to his feet and began pursuing Little Oliver who was already running the way he came, laughing all the way, back to the wall where he and Lil Wil hid behind.

Little Oliver looked over the wall and peered down at his hidden friend.

"It's aw most time, Wiw," said Little Oliver.

"I don't wanna do this anymow, Owivuh, I'm scawed," said Lil Wil.

"Wiggs told me thewe is aw-ways a time to be bwave, and you need to be bwave now Wiw," said Little Oliver.

"But- but-" stammered Lil Wil.

Little Oliver was about to call Wil a baby because he was getting annoyed by this, but he was interrupted by the bully, who had pulled him away and threw him to the side. He tried to get back up but the bully pushed him back on the ground again.

"Go ahead, wimp. Try to get back up again," said the bully, who towered over the downed Oliver.

To Oliver, the bully was a shadow because his head blocked the sun, preventing light from reaching the bully's face as he leaned over Oliver.

But this changed as a powerful stream of water flew at the bully from behind, toppling over the bully, and bringing his attention to Lil Wil behind the wall.

"Aw yeah! How do you wike that?" said Lil Wil.

The bully approached Wil.

"Uh oh," said Lil Wil before he fired again, this time in the bully's face.

Wil said nothing, but squirted the punk every time he tried to get near to Wil, until eventually he went away with a soaked face.

As Oliver and Wil celebrated their victory, Riggs almost clapped himself as he observed the events from a distance. To formally congratulate his brother, Riggs walked over there and lifted the cub over his shoulder. Lil Wil, having finally met the Riggs Oliver talked about so much, wanted to be lifted in the air as well.

"Me next! Me next!"

Riggs felt it odd to do that for a random kid, but this random kid was Oliver's friend, so he picked him up over his other shoulder.

"What's your name, little boy?"

"Wiw" said Lil Wil.

"Well Wil, maybe you and Oliver can get together again sometime?" proposed Riggs.

"YEAH!" the two yelled simultaneously.

* * *

After Riggs got some contact information from Wil, it was official. Oliver had made a friend. Riggs had accomplished his first mission in raising Oliver.

Riggs triumphantly placed Little Oliver in his backpack with his soaker and wooden sword.

As they began the walk home, with Oliver on Riggs's back, Riggs took the opportunity to talk to his younger brother.

"Oliver?"

"Yes, Wiggs?"

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I wanna be a hewo."

"Good, because what you did out there shows you have what it takes to be one."

"Weawwy?"

"Yup. Helping others, stopping bad guys, you might even be able to be a Battle Bear when you're older."

"A BATTO BEAW?! YIPPEE!"

_Oh no, I'm a fool! What have I done?_ thought Riggs, realizing he put a very fantastical thought in his little brother's mind.

"Yeah! And I'mma be on yor team too, Wiggs! With Gwayson and Mogan and the big guy! And we're gomna go on so many adventuwes! We gonna fight awiens, we gonna fight mownsters,we gonna eat ice cweam for ev-wy meaw!"

Oliver continued like this the whole way home.

* * *

Meanwhile, Wil was still playing in the park.

It was getting dark and all the other children had left, but he had nowhere to go, so he continued playing.

In the sandbox, Lil Wil found himself futilely trying to find treasure buried under the sand. He was on his knees digging straight to the bottom of the box in several locations, but never found treasure.

Before he could stop and do something else, he was suddenly grabbed from behind. A very cold arm had captured Lil Wil and a very cold hand covered his mouth as he struggled.

Lil Wil looking down to see the hand that had grabbed him was not at all from a bear. He began to cry of of fear, but no one could hear him scream.

It was green and scaly, and he heard clicking noises from whatever the limbs belonged to. It ran off with Wil at a speed quicker than any bear and disappeared without a trace.


	5. Just Another Day of Downtime Goes Wrong

In the days that went by, Young Riggs and Little Oliver became even closer than ever. Little Oliver looked up to Riggs as practically his hero and always wanted to do something fun with him. Riggs would often comply with that once he had Oliver finish some chore, and found great pleasure in taking charge over his little brother, especially with the help of his teammates.

"Uncle Grayson," "Uncle Morgan," and "Uncle Abram" all loved having the kid around. Occasionally Riggs wondered if he even remembered Uncle Sterling. Probably for the best if he didn't.

Some of the most fun they ever had was when the four of them were having a conversation and then Little Oliver butted in to add something completely unnecessary yet adorable, which changed the course of the conversation.

* * *

On this particular day, Abram had scheduled them all to have noon combat training with other teams. Riggs's friend Riley would be substituting for Sterling. In the days since the accident, Riley had seized the opportunity to become more connected with Riggs's team, because she had a hard time connecting with the other girls in her team. She had become a great fit for the unofficial sixth member of the team. So great, that while no one would admit it, everyone considered replacing Sterling with her. She was certainly much more pleasant than Sterling.

When Abram reminded the team of this event on their schedule, no one was prepared for it. "Alrighty boys, up and at 'em! We've got combat training in the courtyard in half an hour, time to get yourselves up!" said Abram, slapping his hands together as he walked by the bunks of all the teammates under his command.

Not one of them was awake yet. Turns out card game night really takes a lot out of a junior Battle Bear.

"Boys, get your butts up," said Abram as he shook the young bear in each bunk. "Come on, even the little one is up before you guys! You really gonna let him beat you, trained Battle Bears?"

Little Oliver had gotten up much earlier than anyone else so he could watch cartoons and play with his wooden sword.

Now Riggs, Grayson, and Morgan all sat up in their beds with the same groggy expression, wanting only to plop their heads back on their pillows. And they all did, almost in unison.

Abram sighed, "Well boys, you leave me no choice. Oliver, if you will?"

Riggs was dreaming of himself doing something dastardly. He saw himself with a minigun, shooting down millions of faceless bears laughing maniacally. All the bears screaming as the bullets rippled through them begging for forgiveness and mercy from the ruthless monster unloading bullets on them. But then, water. Water everywhere, and he woke up.

Riggs got up to see Little Oliver shooting his soaker directly in Riggs's face. He then proceeded to squirt every other sleeping soldier in the dorm, laughing all the way.

Riggs got up to clean off both the water from Oliver's soaker and the sweat on his face from his dream.

* * *

About half an hour later, they were all prepped and ready to go, with Riggs to leave the room last after putting on his backpack.

But immediately after he put it on, he noticed it was much heavier than the contents he had put in. The only logical explanation for this is that Little Oliver was hiding in there as usual. He couldn't leave him there since Riley was going to be with them on combat training, so he concluded he'll just have to come with them. But he decided to have some fun with it while he could, so he loudly pretended he didn't know Little Oliver was there.

"Huh? Where's Oliver? Well there's no time to check now, it's time to go!" said Riggs.

Riggs could hear Little Oliver silently snicker inside his backpack. He smiled.

The team made it out to the practice arena, then equipped gear and laser blasters for a game of laser tag against a fellow Battle Bear team. Riley joined them as planned, and they all got fired up. Not one of them had known Little Oliver was with them yet.

Riggs decided to employ a tactic Abram had taught them: The Element of Surprise, using the unexpected.

When no one was looking, Riggs grabbed a second laser blaster and put it in his backpack as he revealed to his younger brother he knew he was there.

"Cover my six when you can," said Riggs.

"Behind me. Try to fire anyone who tries to fire me from behind," said Riggs.

"Got it, Wiggs!"

Little Oliver gave a thumbs up from the backpack.

"Shhh! Put your hand down and hide! We don't want anyone to know you're in there," said Riggs.

The game was about to begin. Both teams were placed on opposite ends of a pit that resembled a skate park themed-maze. The rules were simple: get shot and you're out. Last team with surviving members wins.

Al five of the bears lined up against the wall of their starting point as Abram made gestures to each bear, telling them where to go from there. As the word "GO!" was heard, each member carefully moved to each designated spot. Riggs was ordered to hide behind a trash can, and he ducked down as he did.

Complete silence. Riggs looked around and noted where each of his teammates were. Grayson was laying low by a dip big enough to conceal him. As he saw Riggs, he did a quick wave as their eyes met. Morgan was laying on his belly on the top of a half pipe. He and Riggs nodded at each other as their eyes met. And Riley was laying low in tall grass of the pavement. She winked at Riggs as their eyes met.

With Abram hiding behind a quarter pipe in front of all of them, the team was scattered in a pentagon shape. If anyone came in the middle of that pentagon, they would get them.

The silence was broken. A member of the other team emerged. Most likely sent to scout. He might not have been stealthy on his arrival, but he was no stranger to hiding from open areas.

The scout was dangerously close to the trash bin Riggs was hiding behind. If Riggs breathed he would know he was there.

"I'm bored," said Little Oliver.

Riggs's heart stopped. He didn't need to look to see the scout heard that. He immediately jumped out and shot him with the laser blaster. The problem was now, the other team will know they've lost a member, and therefore will know where the team is.

"Oliver, be quiet. The bad guys know we're here now," said Riggs.

Riggs looked around and saw each member of his team mouthing at him "What the heck is HE doing here?"

Riggs decided not to respond.

Abram gave new orders. Riggs was to relocate hiding spots, and so was Grayson.

Riggs bent over as he carefully tiptoed over to his new spot.

"POW!" said Little Oliver.

Riggs's heart stopped again. He broke into a dash for his new hiding spot and readied his weapon as he scanned the area for enemies. He saw one directly behind where he was coming from.

"Hit him!" said Little Oliver.

"You fired at him?" said Riggs.

"You towd me to fi-or at anyone behind yoo," said Little Oliver.

"So I did," said Riggs.

Riggs took immense pride in that shot Oliver made, and the boy wasn't even properly trained to use a gun.

But there was no time to congratulate him. As the whole team was distracted by that awesome moment, the rest of the enemy team came and blitzed Riggs's team in all their hiding spots. Abram and Morgan were the first to be taken by surprise. Before being shot themselves, Riley and Grayson took out three guys, leaving only two, against Riggs and Oliver.

Riggs gathered a plan.

"Oliver, these guys don't know we're here. I'm going to count to three, and when I do, you fire the guy on the right," said Riggs.

Riggs did not even give him a chance to respond.

"One."

The two team members stood back to back, searching for the remaining member of the enemy team.

"Two."

Little Oliver propped himself on Riggs's shoulder with his laser blaster ready.

"THREE!"

Riggs jumped out from his spot and lasered the bear on the left. He looks to see if Little Oliver missed his target. Whether by sheer luck or a natural talent for gunplay, he didn't. Both members of the other team were down. Riggs and Oliver had won the game.

"Yahoo! We did it!" exclaimed Little Oliver.

"Hey! You brought the kid with you? That's not fair, he doesn't have any gear on!" said one of the two bears.

"All's fair in love and war," said Morgan.

All the members of Riggs's team gathered around him to congratulate Little Oliver, a true asset to the team on that mission.

"Alright Oliver!"

"You go Little Bear!"

"Good job, kiddo."

Little Oliver was grinning ear to ear from all the praise, and jumped into the arms of Grayson out of excitement.

"Man, that kid can shoot, soldier," said Abram. "Riggs, he wants to be a Battle Bear, right? Train him when he gets older!"

Riggs felt conflicted on that. He didn't want Little Oliver to simply follow everything he did, he could die in his line of work. But all the same, the tyke had all the true makings of a Battle Bear.

He decided to put this issue off until later, and just enjoy the moment while he could.

* * *

Riggs continued his combat training later that day with Grayson in hand to hand combat. Riley was now watching Little Oliver, so he could completely focus on training.

Grayson was the best fist fighter Riggs knew, so it was saying something to him that he was able to block most of the hits Grayson shot at him.

They were both panting like dogs as their arms became a blur of movement.

"Heh, I'll get you eventually Riggs," said Grayson.

"Big talk will get you nowhere," said Riggs.

Riggs then found his opportunity to throw a punch at Grayson. As his fist came at him, Grayson caught it mid-punch, and the sweat from Riggs's arm flew clean off. As Grayson stopped the fist, he kicked Riggs to the ground. When Riggs regained his senses, he saw Grayson with a handgun.

"Boom. You're disabled," said Grayson.

"I thought we were doing a fistfight," said Riggs.

"Fight smarter, not harder," said Grayson. "I'm good with my fists, but if you've got the guy down, this thing will keep them down," said Grayson.

Grayson put away his gun and extended his hand to help up Riggs. The two of them decided to have a break from combat practice with sandwiches.

"You know Riggs, that thing where you brought Oliver might have been total cheating earlier, but it was smart and above all, totally awesome!" said Grayson.

Riggs was delighted to hear that.

"Ever since that thing with Sterling, we haven't had much excitement around here. Well that was excitement, but not the good kind. I'm happy to get the adrenaline rush again, the true sense of adventure running through my head again," said Grayson. "That feeling that makes you want to look up to the heavens and yell-"

Grayson stopped himself. He was about to say something unbelievably childlike and cheesy, and Riggs already had one eyebrow raised.

"Erm, I'm happy cool stuff is happening again, is what I'm trying to say," said Grayson.

"I see," said Riggs.

Silence between them as they ate their sandwiches.

"Do you think Morgan will ever open up to us?" said Grayson.

"He told me he would one day," said Riggs.

"That's good. It's not good to keep yourself bottled up, especially to the guys who could be his closest friends," said Grayson. "He doesn't seem to be fazed by much, I notice. Wonder if he's used to it or just naturally unfazed by stuff. Why do you think he became a Battle Bear?"

Riggs turned to Grayson.

"Let's not gossip about him, we're not little girls on the playground," said Riggs.

"I suppose not," said Grayson. "Where's everyone right now?"

"Abram's asleep and Riley's spending time with Oliver. I think Morgan came with them," said Riggs.

"Well let's go say hi to them," said Grayson. "I think I'm done with combat practice for now."

Riggs nodded in agreement. The two young soldiers left the training grounds to the alleyway between their dormitory complex and Riley's, her usual hangout.

* * *

When they arrived, they found Morgan having a sit down on a bench outside the alley. Little Oliver was in the alley with his hands covering his eyes, counting down.

"Thewe...too...won! Weddy or not, hewe I come!" said Little Oliver.

But as soon as Little Oliver uncovered his eyes, he dropped his current goal and ran over to Riggs's arms.

"WIGGS!" said Little Oliver as he jumped straight into Riggs's arms. "I'm pwaying hide and seek with Wiwy!"

"I see that," said Riggs.

Riggs almost wanted to scold Riley for this. With her ninja-like ability of stealth, it would take a heat sensor to find her, let alone a small child's intuition. Trying to find her would be like trying to find a black cat in the darkness of night.

But he knew exactly how to make this cat come out of it's hiding spot.

"Hey Oliver, want to know a really funny story about Riley," said Riggs.

"Yeah!" said Oliver.

"Okay, this story starts a few weeks before you arrived when there was a pool party for all the new recruits, this is actually the day we met..." said Riggs.

"WAIT! DON'T TELL HIM ABOUT THAT!" said Riley's voice.

Riley came out from a window above their heads she had carefully infiltrated as Oliver was counting down. She dropped to ground where she, Riggs, Little Oliver, and Grayson were.

"You dirty cheater. That's twice today!" said Riley.

"No one could possibly beat you at hide and seek. Go easy on him," said Riggs.

"Actually, I kind of want to hear this story now," said Grayson.

Morgan had walked over.

"I know this one. The boy shouldn't hear it, I'll tell you later," said Morgan.

Riley and Riggs looked at Morgan.

"How the heck would you know about this?" said Riley.

"I make it my business to know thing about the people that surround me in my life," said Morgan.

There was always someone about Morgan, when he stated the reason he did something, got whoever asked him to shut up about it.

"Can EV-WY-ONE pway hide-and-seek wif me?" said Little Oliver.

All the older kids looked amongst themselves, and nodded in agreement.

Soon all the soldiers, for the express purpose of entertaining their comrade's younger brother, went hiding around the immediate vicinity, hiding just as they would on a mission.

When Little Oliver was done counting, Riggs was hiding behind a dumpster, being as silent as if he didn't exist. He didn't want to go too hard on the boy, but still didn't want to be the first one found. Unfortunately, it looked like that was what was going to happen.

Riggs could feel his heart race as he felt the footsteps of Little Oliver walking by the dumpster Riggs hid behind. He was sunk, this was it.

* * *

But then, a startling whoosh came by, and Little Oliver's footsteps were gone. Riggs peeked out of his hiding spot to see a giant green bear facing opposite his direction. It's skin was covered in dark scales, it's knees were bent at a 90° angle and it's back was lurched over, so the creature made an S shape with it's body.

The creature turned around to look at Riggs,

Not look. It had no eyes. It didn't have a snout, mouth, muzzle, or nose either, just a blank head with ears. And in it's hands was Little Oliver, his mouth covered as the creature held him close to its stomach.

Instantly, Riggs held a pistol up and aimed it toward the creature's head.

The creature responded by holding Little Oliver up in front of him, the poor child crying in the monster's claws.

Riggs tried to signal one of his teammates to get a gun on the creature before he lowered his weapon, but the creature could tell he was up to no good.

It dashed at a speed faster than any bear could run down the alley, and ran up the wall of the outer perimeter of the base. As it ran off with Little Oliver, two more of the creatures hopped back over the wall, and set their sights on Riggs. They dashed at him at the same speed. Riggs was able to shoot one down, but couldn't react fast enough to get the other. It pinned him down on the ground, and was about to whale down on Riggs, but a bullet went through it's head from a different angle.

After Riggs got the body of the deceased monster off of him, Morgan helped him to his feet holding a sniper rifle. Riley and Grayson came out of their hiding spots to address the situation.

* * *

"What the- what the hell are those?" said Grayson.

"Monsters," said Riggs. "Never seen them before, but they have Oliver."

Riggs faced his three allies.

"Guys, those THINGS have my little brother. I need help getting him back, this is the most important thing I have ever asked of you," said Riggs.

Gunfire was heard outside the alley.

"We might have a bigger issue at the moment," said Riley.

All four of the child soldiers ran into the open to see more of the creatures all over the place, waging a war on all the Battle Bears in the base,

"We need to provide support!" said Riley.

"Wait! I need your help more!" said Riggs.

"Are you kidding? These things are going to overrun us! If we desert everyone now, we'll lose our ranks!" said Riley.

Riggs put his hand on Riley's shoulder. "Those things Have Oliver, Riley. I'm going after him, with or without you."

Riggs looked toward Grayson and Morgan.

"That goes for the two of you. I'm going to save Oliver or die trying," said Riggs.

All three of Riggs's allies looked amongst each other. Riggs was not giving them an easy choice.

"Okay Riggs, we'll go," said Grayson.

"Speak for yourselves," said Riley.

All three of the boys were shocked to hear this.

"If these thing overrun base camp, there could be no Battle Bears left. Our world would be completed defenseless. I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen," said Riley.

Riley now grabbed Riggs by the shoulder.

"Riggs, bring him back to us," said Riley.

"You don't need to tell me twice," said Riggs.

"But more importantly, YOU come back to us alive. No matter what happens, I want YOU home alive. You are our most valuable asset, and are too good of a soldier to die here," said Riley.

Riley faced Morgan and Grayson.

"You two, keep him alive," said Riley.

"Will do, ma'am," said Grayson.

"I will do everything in my power to keep him and the boy with us," said Morgan.

"We need to get on our way, to the Leaping Rhino!" said Riggs.

Morgan and Grayson ran off to start the vehicle. Riggs was going to follow them, but Riley stopped him once more.

"Hey, Riggs?" said Riley.

She walked right onto the big polar bear's goes and kissed him right on the lips.

She stepped off.

"There's more where that came from once we stop these bastards and you come back with the kid. Go get 'em, sexy," said Riley.

She grabbed her assault rifle from her backpack and ran into battle.

If this were any other day, Riggs probably would have needed a minute to recover from that. But not today. Today, Riggs had a goal too important to allow his own teenage troubles to get in his way. His most meaningful mission was about to begin.

"Hang on Oliver, I'm coming for you," said Riggs as he went after Grayson and Morgan

As he ran, he left behind the war between the Battle Bears and the monsters.


End file.
